


The Clever Man

by Auchen



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series, DCU, DCU (Animated)
Genre: (sort of), Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-21 01:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2450306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auchen/pseuds/Auchen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, you want me to tell you a story? I suppose I shall, if that is what you wish. A simple tale, perhaps, for a simple mind? </p><p>All right, then. It starts like this:</p><p>There was once a clever boy, and the world and his father did not care much for him because of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Clever Man

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a short drabble in Eddie's head, but I also wanted to write a fairy tale AU. The two sort of combined, and this is what I ended up with.

 

So, you want me to tell you a story? I suppose I shall, if that is what you wish. A simple tale, perhaps, for a simple mind? The human brain loves constructed narratives and patterns, you know. It’s how we make sense of a world. It’s what separates us from the rest of the knuckle dragging apes—though most of humanity is little better than our primate relatives.

All right, then. It starts like this:

There was once a clever boy, and the world and his father did not care much for him because of it. 

The boy’s father believed him to be a liar and cheater, jealous that such a small head could carry such a brilliant mind. The father…

Well, it doesn’t matter what the father did to the boy, does it? All one needs to know is that the clever boy only grew stronger because of his father’s hatred of his intellect.

—

Soon the clever boy grew into a clever man. He had long out grown childish puzzle games, but those times had still taught him something important. 

He had learned hunger and want. Want for knowledge, want to be better than the milling crowds.

His mind was a knife that needed constant sharpening against the whetstone of some new conundrum.

—

The clever man’s brain could not be satisfied by merely putting his intellect to work within the dusty halls of libraries, or among the maze of the rat race of mundane work, creating puzzles for others.

The clever man needed everyone to know his great genius, to write it in the sky for all to see, though it would only be clear to those smart enough to look.

—

People are always envious of the things that they cannot have, especially of innate gifts, and so they try to take it from others.

The clever man’s employer was one of these people, and tried to rob him, passing off the clever man’s creation as one of his own.

What the employer did not know is that sharp minds that are slighted also have a deadly bite.

—

The clever man decided to exact justice against the employer who had hurt him, who thought that he was small and could be easily cowed.

But the city was an unruly, strange place, full of monsters and nightmares, and monsters always draw those who are looking to fight them. One cannot exist without the other. So, unfortunately, the city had attracted a knight errant who quite spoiled the clever man’s scheme.

But not completely.

You see, the former employer still shivers like a scared child at night, afraid that the clever man may pay him a visit once more.

—

Though the clever man escaped his first encounter with the self-righteous knight errant, the clever man was eventually trapped and thrown away to rot.

But as always, they underestimated him.

That's the nature of clever things—they never stay caged for long. For the crafty fox will gnaw off his own foot to escape a trap.


End file.
